I'm steadily being driven insane by an onslaught of ideas. They seem to come at me like a steady stream of deadly arrows from the slimy orcs below. Now I face a serious problem: which ideas should I use in my stories??!!
I almost feel like writing "Dear Abby" to you guys about my problems...almost. I hope you guys'll bear with me as I allow my heart to sing its sorrowful song on the stark white screen before me. It all began with me starting to write depressing stuff (don't ask!). Eventually, I decided that I hated writing stuff that gave me headaches and was mostly just tedious to write, so I decided on humor writing--the exact opposite of what I was writing before. Under the strain, my mind collapsed to a puddle of goo in my head.
Now I have a gazillion story ideas, each of them shattered bits of plot and character and I don't know what to do!
So, Dear Abby, Mr. Stressed would like to know what YOU think I should do!
Confusedly,
-the confused and perplexed, Mr. Stressed.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
"In Candytown the Imagination runs so free..."
Well, apparently I'm the first, unless my compy is confused and cannot upload someone else's previous posts. Well, this is certainly an airy place. Deep Breath I think I shall like it here, despite the fact that one of its progenitors compared it to the U.S. Postal service.
Here comes the anti-climax: I haven't any written work to post. This is a fresh start for me. I haven't actually written anything in many a moon, so let's see how this goes.
What I shall do instead is give a quick fix I found (ok, my sister found, and I just did a little copy-n-paste magic here and there). Question: How do I develop my characters/make them interesting?
Answer: Short stories.
Find a spare moment and plop them into some crazy, nonsensical short story, with yourself as the main character. It can be about anything, and you can make anything happen. Get to know your characters by talking with them face-to-face, or have them save you from some dyer horror. Whatever. It'll make your characters interesting. They're what makes a story really magical, any way. What do readers rave about the most in the their favorite books? Really, do millions of fans around the world scream about the deep, twisty plots and thought-povoking themes and/or morals in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series? Some thoughtful readers might, but let's face it; not every reader will see the intense themes, references, or ideals behind the hours you slaved over your novel. Most people remember, for example, how hilarious Fred & George were or how cute Ron and Hermione are together, or how painful Snape's past turned out to be. If your characters are unrelatable, then the important message behind it all will fall flat, and good luck with suspense. No one cares if the hero sacrifices his friends to save humanity if the hero is boring and/or too cliche to relate to.
In your short stories, write however you feel comfortable. Make it funny, sad, or just plain bizarre. Myself, I write them like a play, so that I can stick to dialogue and personal character attributes and little quirks that make them different and unique. Maybe you don't need to know all this, or you guys already do, but when I found this out, I saved me a world of pain.
P.S.-- this also works when you are stuck for a plot. Short stories can give you brand new ideas you never thought of before. They might make you change you mind about your entire plot, even.
P.S.S. And if you're bored, it's incredibly fun to write a short story with someone else, each using some of their own characters. Absolutely hilarious.
Here comes the anti-climax: I haven't any written work to post. This is a fresh start for me. I haven't actually written anything in many a moon, so let's see how this goes.
What I shall do instead is give a quick fix I found (ok, my sister found, and I just did a little copy-n-paste magic here and there). Question: How do I develop my characters/make them interesting?
Answer: Short stories.
Find a spare moment and plop them into some crazy, nonsensical short story, with yourself as the main character. It can be about anything, and you can make anything happen. Get to know your characters by talking with them face-to-face, or have them save you from some dyer horror. Whatever. It'll make your characters interesting. They're what makes a story really magical, any way. What do readers rave about the most in the their favorite books? Really, do millions of fans around the world scream about the deep, twisty plots and thought-povoking themes and/or morals in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series? Some thoughtful readers might, but let's face it; not every reader will see the intense themes, references, or ideals behind the hours you slaved over your novel. Most people remember, for example, how hilarious Fred & George were or how cute Ron and Hermione are together, or how painful Snape's past turned out to be. If your characters are unrelatable, then the important message behind it all will fall flat, and good luck with suspense. No one cares if the hero sacrifices his friends to save humanity if the hero is boring and/or too cliche to relate to.
In your short stories, write however you feel comfortable. Make it funny, sad, or just plain bizarre. Myself, I write them like a play, so that I can stick to dialogue and personal character attributes and little quirks that make them different and unique. Maybe you don't need to know all this, or you guys already do, but when I found this out, I saved me a world of pain.
P.S.-- this also works when you are stuck for a plot. Short stories can give you brand new ideas you never thought of before. They might make you change you mind about your entire plot, even.
P.S.S. And if you're bored, it's incredibly fun to write a short story with someone else, each using some of their own characters. Absolutely hilarious.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)